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Create Awareness of Alternatives - 2/4/25


Sandy was hungry, and she was on the move.  Driving between meetings, she saw the restaurant sign and pulled in.  The fast-food restaurant had two drive-thru lanes.  One was for any customer who wanted to place an order on the spot. The other was for mobile orders only.  The Read more

Listen with Your Eyes - 1/28/25


Out of the corner of his eye, Patrick saw the customer enter the lobby.  The customer was carrying a large shoulder bag with several papers in her hand.  The customer was shuffling the papers and looking down; then she stopped, looked up, and saw the staff navigator sitting at Read more

When You’re the Educator, What Should You Teach? - 1/21/25


The best customer service professionals are also excellent educators.  Not only within the organization, but I’m talking specifically about the role they play as educator with their customers.  With all the self-service options that technology provides, customers often have the opportunity to do things on their own, to investigate Read more

Wrap It Up Right: Why Follow-Up Communications WOW Customers - 1/14/25


Dena had some questions about her water bill, so she looked for answers on the utility’s website.  She didn’t find specific answers, and she really didn’t want to get on the phone with somebody at the time and risk staying on hold.  She had lots going on, but she Read more

From Conversation to Connection: Defining Customer Engagement - 1/7/25


Maggie was sitting in the Service Excellence Training class, and the instructor kept talking about staying engaged with the customer.  Proactively engaging the customer.  Being fully engaged in the conversation. After hearing this same phrase (“engage”) used in various ways, Maggie raised her hand and asked a question probably several Read more

Self-empower for the New Year - 12/31/24


Jeff joined the company, in part, because he loved their approach to culture.  Leadership tried to create an empowerment culture.  They tried to develop an environment where, within certain parameters, individual team members could make a decision and feel confident that they would be supported by leadership. The reality was Read more

2024 Holiday Poem - 12/24/24


I sometimes hear it said That things have never been like this before. That challenges are unique, That stresses seem like more.   I sometimes hear it said That we're asked to do much more with less. That workloads are increasing, And we're resource-constrained at best.   And others often say That things are really very good. That they enjoy those Read more

Is Their Poor Planning Your Emergency? - 12/17/24


Have you ever heard the saying:  Your poor planning is not my emergency. I’ve heard it said often – not necessarily directly from one person to another.  More typical is that I hear it from the person having to drop everything and do something immediately because someone else didn’t think Read more

Empathy Examples for Everyday Situations - 12/10/24


I’ve often said that empathy is the single most important characteristic of people who are great at customer service.  If empathy is essentially “to understand the other person,” it helps so much to have that ability in order to specifically help someone.  To talk to what’s unique about them.  Read more

Tell Them Why You’re Giving Thanks - 12/3/24


Thank you! Merci! Danke! Doumo! Gracias! It seems like every language has a translation of Thank You.  Even though I only fluently speak English and speak Spanish, un poco, I – and probably most of you – have heard some or all of the translations of "Thank You” noted above.  Read more

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Don’t Turn Your Clients Into Prospects

Posted on October 30, 2013 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Many years ago I was consulting with a client in the financial services industry. This credit card provider would send out literally 2-4 million marketing pieces at a time with the hopes of getting a fraction – under 3% – to respond. The client would then initiate a sales process with that 1-3% and hope to close a certain percentage of those. While I was helping them on the operational aspect of one area charged with this process, I couldn’t help to be awed by the waste…and the fact that they were using generic marketing messages on existing customers.

A customer is not a prospect, but this client was treating them like one.

In the world that we prefer to work in today – that of customer service, the patient experience, season ticket holder retention, and account growth – you view retention and growth as 1-on-1. You view it as me (the employee) knowing you (the customer) so personally, so specifically that I know how you prefer that I communicate with you. I know whether you’re thinking of staying or leaving for a competitor. I know whether you’re likely to be a good candidate for cross-sell/upsell, and I know the best way to do that. I know whether it’s okay to ask for a referral. And when you form your opinion of my organization, I know what are those main opinion-drivers.

Being successful in the customer service, client experience, customer retention world requires that you never start thinking of a client as a prospect. Once you do that, you give up the competitive advantage of having a deeper, more personal relationship with that client.

Don’t turn your clients into prospects.

Did you like this post? Here are other Retention-related posts:


Customer Service Wisdom from a Retiree-to-be

Posted on October 3, 2013 in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

When you retire, you get reflective. And with reflection, you sometimes come up with nuggets – words of wisdom.

Brenda Fraser is a County employee retiring from 37 years of service, and in the article Face of Hernando County government says customer service, good hires were keys to success, she addresses some of the difficulties in serving customers as a local government employee. Fraser noted that “The hardest part of her job has been ‘communicating to people when it was something that was not positive, communicating that the county really does care. We understand there is a problem. We’re not being cavalier.’ Frazier said she knows, from her view on the inside, that county employees care and work hard. That has made the last few years difficult, she said, as employees have been the subject of public criticism — at a time when many also feared they could lose their jobs because of budget cuts.”

There’s several key points in those words:

  • First, when something’s not positive, you must communicate with the customer about it; also, it pays to be proactive so you can have some control over what’s discussed, where and how.
  • Second, don’t just do a task for a customer and expect them to know you care. Most customers want to be treated as something that’s far more than a cog on your assembly line; therefore, you have to think beyond the task; you have to convey you care about the person for whom you’re doing the task.
  • Third, we need to be empathetic with staff. When constantly preaching about the need for great customer service that they need to deliver to customers, we have to understand that their morale impacts their attitude. Leaders need to take ownership over their role in keeping morale and spirits high since employee feelings will flow to the customers.

When you think about how to deliver great service, remember to be proactive, communicate that you care, and be a spirit-builder with staff.

Did you like this post? Here are other government-related posts:

Learn about our CSS Government services at: http://cssamerica.com/cssgovt.htm


A Startup’s Reason to Love Customer Service

Posted on September 17, 2013 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

I have to blog about this – a startup expert promoting the need for customer service – WOW!

Many startup entrepreneurs are so in love with their product or with selling that they don’t make delivering great customer service or “WOWing” the customer a high priority. But in the article Why Startups Should Prioritize Customer Service, there are a couple classic quotes that promote a startup’s focus on customer service:

  • “I have never once seen a start-up lured down a blind alley by trying too hard to make their initial users happy.”
  • “Customer service is not just a mechanism for ensuring customer satisfaction; we rely on it to help develop the vision and set the roadmap for the future of our business.”

I like the second quote because I can relate to it. When my company (Customer Service Solutions, Inc.) was started 15 years ago, we had a core list of industries and products that we thought would be our fuel for the future. But over the years we’ve allowed our customers to determine our industries and products by asking, listening, and watching where our services were in greatest demand and had the greatest impact.

If you’re looking for a reason to love customer service, love it because you can’t love your customer without loving serving them. If you truly love your customer, then your company (the people, processes, products, and services) are about them.

Act like a startup that prioritizes customer service; sometimes let your customers take the lead.

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/


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